Program:
Fascinating facts about Florida’s native plants and their importance to saving birds, butterflies and other pollinators from extinction. Learn about how traditional landscapes pollute the environment and why traditional lawns need to be eliminated or reduced if we are to save a cross section of our native biodiversity.
Speaker Bio:
Karina Veaudry is a past Executive director of the Florida Native Plant Society and has been a native plant landscape architect for 32 years. Amongst her contributions was spearheading the development of a native plant friendly model ordinance to guide municipalities toward more sustainable landscape development for their communities.
She has guided cities and counties throughout Florida to add language to their landscape ordinances to promote a minimum percentage of native plants and water conservation initiatives. She has been involved in conservation efforts in Central Florida for many years and was the recipient of a Sierra Club Award in 2010.
Join us for a relaxing evening of fun and friends!
An excellent opportunity to bring your friends and learn about Sierra Club. (And you’re invited to bring your favorite dessert, if you like!)
********** New World Brewery 810 E. Skagway Ave., Tampa 33604 Just east of Hwy 275, 1 block south of Busch Blvd. Convenient free parking across the street from restaurant. ****************
You must register for this event so that we can get a count of how many people are coming and keep you up to date on the status of the event.
We had a favorite place all picked out, but Milton changed conditions to an extent that we are dubious about it being appropriate. We are investigating alternatives and will be posting updates both through an addendum to this newsletter and through MeetUp, GetResponse, and Facebook.
You Must Register and Sign the Waiver
Level: Easy
Cost: No charge
Bring: Water, Raincoat( It is Florida), bug spray, sunscreen and pack a lunch as well as your favorite snack.
Signup Restrictions: No pets
Cancellation Policy: Activity is held rain or shine, but may be altered due to inclement weather
Registration is required for all outings. Unless otherwise noted, outings are free though there may be site entry fees. Liability waivers are required, and anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a legal guardian. No pets.
Registration is required for all outings. Unless otherwise noted, outings are free though there may be site entry fees. Liability waivers are required, and anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a legal guardian. No pets.
Vote!
Every Vote Counts -- Yours may be the vote that determines what the next four years will look like.
Sierra Club Mission Statement
To explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth;
To practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources;
To educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.
We encourage you to look at the candidates, national, state, and local and vote for those who align most closely with the mission of the Sierra Club.
Sierra Clue Endorsed Candidates
It's election season! Start now to think about your vote.
In conducting our endorsement activities, Sierra Club follows a detailed, thorough process which initially focuses on the local level beginning with our Political Committee which is made up of Sierra Club members who volunteer their time to conduct research about the candidates, submit detailed questionnaires on the candidates' views on environmental issues, and we also conduct interviews with the candidates to ask follow-up questions on their views on the issues that are important to Sierra Club and its members. Our Political Committee this year is comprised of 10 volunteers who have been working hard to vet candidates in a variety of races, for several months.
Once the local Political Committee recommends endorsing a candidate, it next goes to our local Executive Committee for a vote. If the Executive Committee approves the endorsement, then the Political Chairs of the Sierra Club in the surrounding counties must also concur in the approval of the endorsement before it becomes final. For State and Federal offices, the approvals also require the Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club and the national Sierra Club to vote for approval.
So, when you see that Sierra Club has endorsed a candidate, you may rest assured that they have been vetted and questioned extensively on a wide variety of environmental issues.
For a list of candidates endorsed by the Tampa Bay Sierra Club, please click on the link to the political page and then on the link to locally endorsed candidates near the bottom of the political page.
Why do we have to click on a second link in order to see the list of candidates whom the Tampa Bay Sierra Club has endorsed? The answer is required by federal tax laws.
Because Sierra Club has a charitable foundation "arm" and a separate advocacy "arm", we have special rules that have to be followed to keep our political opinions in the advocacy side of the Sierra Club organization, and keep it entirely separate from the charitable side of Sierra Club. Therefore, when we direct you to our endorsements, if we are sending them out to a group that includes Sierra Club members as well as non-members, we have to send you to a different link to view our list of endorsed candidates. Many people ask why they have to click on a different link, rather than just have those names of endorsed candidates listed in an article like this without having to make that "second click." Now you know why we have to do that--we keep our charitable fundraising separate from our political advocacy work.
We hope that you will take your civic responsibility seriously and take the time to study the candidates and the issues, and VOTE! We stand behind our endorsed candidates and hope you will share information about them to your friends and family, as we endeavor to improve the quality of the air that we breathe and the water that we need in order to survive.
Voting matters! Let your voice be heard!
Vote "NO" to Amendment 2
Protect Wildlife and Fish Populations
Florida law already recognizes that hunting and fishing are part of Florida’s cultural heritage and traditions; albeit, in concert with the conservation and protection of those species and their habitats through science-based, hunting and fishing regulations promulgated and updated as needed on an annual basis by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Designate hunting as a preferred method of managing wildlife. So, when managers of city parks, county parks, State Parks, and wildlife sanctuaries, need to manage wildlife in the park, they are to go out and hunt them? That is not something we want to see in Florida.
Would put the right to hunt ahead of science and could make it harder to regulate hunting even if science to call for it.
Allowing “all traditional methods” of hunting, would allow the state to bring back the tradition of hunting bears with a pack of dogs. This is not a tradition we want to see return to Florida.
Allow “all traditional methods” of fishing, would allow the commercial fishermen to go to court to overrule the existing net ban, and allow the traditional use of seine nets, and the devastating impacts on the fishing resources.
Providing a constitutional right to traditional hunting will provoke litigation over the definition of "traditional." The amendment is unclear and has too much room for interpretation.
Sierra Club believes that defeating the Amendment is vital to the future of wildlife management in Florida to ensure decisions on wildlife management would be based on science.
Florida Sierra Club asks you to Vote No on Amendment 2
How to Get Involved - For more information go to Noto2.org
Conservation Committee Meetings
For more information or to volunteer, please contact Nancy Stevens.
Meetings are held on the second Monday of the month at 6:30 pm via Google Meet. Contact Nancy to get the link.
Volunteer
This year we are working with the 5th grade students at Academy Prep of Tampa, St. Pete, and Lakeland, and the Environmental Club at Riverview High School.
If you are interested in becoming a leader or volunteering, please contact one of the leaders.
Academy Prep of St. Pete: Agency Lead, Emilie Joyce
Academy Prep of Lakeland: Agency Lead, Rocky Milburn
Environmental Clubs at Riverview and Leto High Schools. Contacts: Rocky Milburn and Andy Harris.
Manage Your Membership
To get our newsletter, you need to get emails from the Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club and the Tampa Bay Group. For multiple reasons, many people do not get our official emails.
Sierra Club members can fix this online, but legally, we cannot do it for you.
To set up your My Account access, go to myaccount.sierraclub.org and click on “Create your account.” Fill in the form on the next page with your information. It is important that you use the email address that the Sierra Club has on file for you, because this is how the system will confirm that you are a valid member. When you submit the form, you’ll receive an email at that address with instructions for setting up a password to log into your account. If you have multiple email addresses and don’t remember which one you used for Sierra Club, call Member Care at (415) 977 5653 to verify which address the Club has on file for you.
Needless to say, don't use "Unsubscribe" - either use your account or call Member Support.
Member Support: 415-977-5653
Volunteers Needed!
Graphic designer - will help create handouts for tabling events and posters. Contact Shirley Denton.
Social media - will assist our Social Media coordinator and may do things such as posting to Instagram, LinkedIn, MeetUp, Facebook. Contact Shirley Denton.
Outings leaders - will be trained to lead outings. This includes a 2-year certification (free) in basic first aid. Contact Ed Shindle.
ICO leaders will be trained to lead ICO trips. This includes a 2-year certification (free) in basic first aid. Contact Rocky Milburn.
Tabling volunteers. No experience required. Contact Emilie Joyce.
Tabling
Tabling is a fun activity where our members go to public events like the Birding Festival or other public events--events you would probably want to go to anyway because they are fun and most offer good food. The purpose of tabling is to stand at a Sierra table and talk to people about Sierra Club.
Amazing as it sounds. many people don't know about Sierra and are very interested to learn about our activities, environmental action, and outings. It is a way we obtain new members and volunteers. Each new tabling volunteer is paired with an experienced member, and we provide talking points about our key campaigns.
We attend these events about 6-10 times per year, and each volunteer can be scheduled for a two hour shift at your convenience. Before and after your volunteer shift, you can enjoy the event as a regular attendee. Our tabling volunteers get free admission to these events.
Here are upcoming events for which we need volunteers:
